A former Fairfield man who was sent to prison in 2006 after trying to hire someone to murder his pregnant wife in gruesome fashion on Halloween is out on probation in a group home with court-ordered restrictions.

Victor Frascone, 38, was released from the Maine State Prison on Dec. 29 into the custody of supervised community confinement, District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said. He became eligible for probation Feb. 13, according to Scott Fish, director of special projects at the Maine Department of Corrections.

In 2005, while in jail on domestic abuse charges, Frascone tried to hire someone to murder his pregnant wife, their unborn child and another man. The person he solicited for the killings, though, was an undercover police officer.

Frascone’s wife had a permanent protection from abuse order against him at the time.

Evert Fowle, district attorney at the time and now a District Court judge, said at the 2006 trial that Frascone wished the worst pain and suffering on his wife, exhibiting a “worst-case scenario” for domestic violence.

“He wanted this person killed in a very painful, deliberate way,” Fowle said. “He wanted her to suffer.”

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Maloney said she will discuss the Frascone case with members of the Somerset High Risk Response Team “in order to be sure we are doing everything possible to keep the victim safe.”

“He will not be given any leniency,” Maloney said.

Despite that fact, once Frascone’s probation is up in 2019, he is free to do as he pleases, a frustration for law enforcement officers.

Somerset County Chief Deputy James Ross said, “It’s very frustrating to me, and I know all of us in law enforcement, that there isn’t more that we can do. Once they’re off probation, there’s just not much there.”

Frascone was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with all but seven years suspended, and six years of probation in May 2006. His probation is set to expire Feb. 15, 2019. If he violates probation, Frascone could face the full 20-year prison term.

Ross, who is the former county domestic violence investigator, said the probation officers are in charge of making sure Frascone obeys the rules.

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“Probation should have a good handle on where he is and what he’s doing,” Ross said, adding that he’s confident Frascone will be closely supervised for the next four years.

Ross said that after probation is served, the victim could get a protection order from the court or renew the one she had in place before Frascone went to prison.

“Sometimes the court will grant a lifetime order due to the severity,” Ross said. “But beside that, after probation is done, it’s viewed that he’s done his sentence and his time and he’s free to live like the rest of us.”

Frascone was arrested and charged in November 2005 at the Somerset County jail, where he was serving time for domestic assault on his wife earlier that year. He was serving a six-month sentence, and his wife had a permanent protection-from-abuse order entered against him.

Frascone hatched the plan to kill his wife while in jail, according to testimony at his trial.

The killings were to have been committed on Halloween night in exchange for prescription drugs.

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A court affidavit from the case noted that Frascone was upset because his wife had gotten a permanent protection from abuse order against him, and he thought she was seeing another man.

The murder-for-hire plan was developed through telephone calls Oct. 28 and 29 from the jail with the person he thought was going to be the hit man — Detective Lt. Carl E. Gottardi II of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department — the undercover police officer.

Gottardi posed as the potential assailant, gained Frascone’s confidence and entered into an agreement for murder, according to reports published at the time of the trial.

While serving his sentence, Frascone had time added to his sentence for prison rule violations, including a couple of assaults on correctional officers, according to Fish.

Frascone agreed to provisions of his probation in Somerset County Superior Court before his release, according to court records.

Steven Onacki, a probation officer assigned to Frascone’s case, filed a motion in court to amend the terms of probation to include a stipulation that Frascone “reside and abide by placement as directed by the probation officer,” Fish said.

Onacki wrote in his motion that Frascone is living in a group home to learn life skills and to deal with his mental health issues.

He asked for the probation department to be given a role in determining with Frascone’s treatment team when he is ready to leave the group home setting and live independently, and that Frascone not be allowed to leave that setting before that determination is made.

Frascone agreed to have the conditions imposed, including a provision that he will be in violation of his probation if he leaves the group home without a probation officer’s permission. He also must take all of his prescribed medication and not have contact with his former wife unless she agrees to a visit.


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